Development and the India-EU Strategic Partnership: Missing incentives and divergent identities

Although development has featured in the EU-India strategic partnership dialogue, India has little incentive or interest to collaborate with the European Union in this area. India’s approach to development and its credibility with developing country partners is based on its ‘Southern’ identity. The EU must therefore be realistic about the limited possibilities for collaboration with India, while continuing to seek local opportunities for cooperation – such as in Afghanistan – and exploring the potential convergence of development approaches between some EU member states and India.